


Thus with a kiss I die

by Cornflower_Corvid



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Day 2 Prompt: Soulmate AU, Getting Together, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Male My Unit | Byleth, Mentioned Golden Deer Students (Fire Emblem), Therein lies the twist, Yurileth Week 2020, but hanahaki with a twist, coughing up flowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24220672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornflower_Corvid/pseuds/Cornflower_Corvid
Summary: Byleth comes down with a strange case of coughing up lavender very suddenly. It turns out it means he has a soulmate. Who could it be?
Relationships: Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	Thus with a kiss I die

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I did something kind of weird here. I played with the way Hanahaki works. The usual variety is still mentioned, and is actually used as a plot-point, but I created a variant which is explained in the story. The name itself just has an extra word at the beginning (Konkei) which is the word 'rhizome' in Japanese. The reason I picked rhizome is because a rhizome is a special type of root that some plants have (like clover) that allows them to propagate laterally under the surface, so where one plant starts, more will grow as the roots branch out in the soil. Since the lavender is basically doing the same thing, but through magic instead of soil, and inside people's lungs (though it can only hit two people because the magical bond only extends to those two). Uhhh anyway I hope it's not confusing. 
> 
> Title from Romeo and Juliet.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Day 16 of the Pegasus Moon, 1180**  
_Morning, Golden Deer Classroom_

He was in the middle of teaching when it happened.

Byleth had a strange feeling in his throat that morning, which slowly built to a stubborn cough. He was in the middle of talking about battlefield tactics when he abruptly launched into a fit of coughing. Alarmed, he excused himself and took a swig of water from his waterskin on the desk, but it didn’t help at all. He just started coughing more. 

“Ah, talk amongst yourselves for a moment. Preferably about formations,” Byleth said unsteadily, gesturing to the class and then the board on which he’d been writing as he walked towards the doors, still coughing. 

“Teach, you gonna be okay?” Claude called out, standing as Byleth passed by his desk. He followed Byleth for a moment until he turned around, trying to repress his cough for a moment.

“I appreciate your concern-” he started, interrupted by his own coughing. “But it’s fine Claude, I probably just need some fresh air…” Byleth gave Claude a curt nod as he coughed a few more times and then turned back around to make his escape. He was alarmed to realize that it felt like something was coming up his throat. Or bits of something, at least. A few more members of the class watched him go by, in particular Yuri, who was sitting at the back. He got up to open the door, but his expression was even, unreadable as usual, and he only nodded in acknowledgement as Byleth passed by him.

Finally outside, Byleth faced into the corner by the Golden Deer classroom, bracing himself on the wall with his hands as he tried painfully to take in air. After a couple of particularly forceful coughs, he realized that things _were_ , tiny purply-blue things. Distraught, he stooped down to take a look at some that fell to the ground. Another strong bout of coughing had him bringing up more, and he caught a few in his hand, though he couldn’t really properly examine them with his gauntlets on. He carefully put them in one hand and maneuvered his other gauntlet off, and then picked one of the tiny buds up. 

It was… a flower? Or something from a plant, at least. It seemed like curled up petals wrapped into a tiny bud shape. But why was he coughing up bits of plants? He didn’t want to upset the students; they’d already been through a lot this year. But he was thoroughly distraught by this mystery. He hastily stowed the buds into his jacket pocket and put his gauntlet back on, vowing to himself to go see Manuela at his first opportunity. The cough itself seemed to have receded now, so at least he could continue his lecture.

Byleth managed to get through the rest of class and some training after without another incident. He headed up to the second floor as soon as he was free, hoping Manuela wouldn’t be busy. He was in luck; she was sitting at her desk in the infirmary working on a report. She got up when he walked in, smiling at him in her usual familiar, pleasant way. “Professor, to what do I owe the pleasure? I… hope you’re not sick,” she inquired, her tone falling upon seeing his frown.

Byleth took his gauntlets off and carefully placed them on the nearby table, and then dug the small buds out of his pocket. They were still damp with mucus since they didn’t really get any air while they were hidden away. “I’m… very confused about this…” he started, holding the buds in his closed fist, his eyes looking anywhere but Manuela’s face. “I had a fit of coughing while I was teaching earlier, and water didn’t help at all… so I went outside, and then…” he unclenched his fist to reveal the buds in his hand, “I started coughing these up.” He finally met Manuela’s gaze just as a look of surprise passed over her face. 

Manuela grabbed a handkerchief from inside her desk and gestured for Byleth to put the tiny buds on there. She took out a couple of long tools that Byleth imagined might be found in a dissection kit, like tweezers or something similar, and sat, concentrating on the specimen in front of her. “Lavender. It’s lavender,” she said after a moment of poking and prodding at the sample. “There’s nothing else it could be.” She looked up at him, suddenly looking a bit harried. “And you said you coughed these up? You’re sure you haven’t, perhaps, been ingesting lavender in some form and… somehow you ended up throwing up only these? And there was nothing else?”

Byleth nodded. “I definitely coughed them up. As I was leaving the classroom, my throat felt strange, like something was trying to come up. I coughed hard a few times, those started, well… falling out of my mouth,” he answered, worried now with how disquieted Manuela was becoming.

“Oh dear… well… there’s only one thing it could be then,” she started, her tone calm but resigned. “You have Hanahaki syndrome. You have feelings for someone then? Unrequited feelings? I wish I didn’t have to pry like this, but that’s how Hanahaki is triggered, except in very rare cases.”

“What…? Feelings…?” Byleth blinked a few times, bewildered and wondering if he’d heard correctly. “What do you mean by that?”

Now it was Manuela’s turn to be confused. “You know… being in love with someone? Wanting to never be apart from them? Is there someone like that?”

Byleth pursed his lips, thinking for a moment. His face fell when his mind turned to one person in particular. “Like… my father?” he asked, his tone solemn. 

“Oh, well, sort of,” Manuela said, sighing. “That’s familial love, it’s not quite the same. I’m talking about a romantic interest.”

It was like a bell went off in Byleth’s mind. “Oh. Like Catherine and Shamir at the ball?” He remembered how fondly they looked at each other as they danced, and at the time he realized that Shamir only ever really smiled when Catherine made one of her silly jokes, though it was still a fairly reserved smile.

Manuela nodded, a small smile on her face now. “Yes, like that. Is there anyone you feel that way about?”

Again, Byleth pursed his lips as he considered Manuela’s question. _Was_ there anyone he felt that way about? He certainly didn’t think so. He ended up shrugging. “I don’t think so…? That… I mean, I like helping the students, and I enjoy talking with everyone… but…” he answered, feeling at a loss. 

“Hm… then perhaps you do fall under the rare exception category…” Manuela said, moving toward her shelf. She scanned the books for a moment, seeming to be looking for a particular one, and when she found it, she pulled it off the shelf and flipped to the front, going to sit back at her desk again. She began to hum a little bit, and then she gestured towards the chair. “Feel free to have a seat, I need to refresh my memory on this one. It’s still Hanahaki, but it works a bit differently and has a slightly different cause…” she explained, flipping through the book. 

Byleth nodded solemnly. He sat down and stuffed his gauntlets into his pocket; the anxiety was making his palms sweaty and he definitely did not want to put them back on.

For a few moments there was silence as Manuela read her book, and Byleth ended up glancing around the room at various things… anatomical diagrams, the variety of books on the shelf against the wall, by Manuela’s desk. Some of the things on her desk caught his interest briefly; a bottle of perfume, a fancy looking quill, and a few small trinkets, one of which might have been a brooch of some sort of music note. He wasn’t particularly familiar with how music worked; he just knew that it sounded nice. His eyes ended up wandering to the handkerchief with the lavender sprinkled on it, and he thought back to how panicked he felt when he realized he was actually coughing up something. Was it going to happen again? What exactly was this Hanahaki syndrome… and what did being romantically interested in someone have to do with it? He supposed Manuela would tell him shortly, but his mind was racing through those thoughts and it was exhausting.

Finally, Manuela looked back up and broke Byleth’s cycle of thoughts. “Alright, so normally Hanahaki syndrome manifests in someone who has romantic feelings towards another person, has acknowledged those feelings, but believes they are unrequited. It’s not very common, and it’s a magical illness so it’s difficult to figure out the exact origin. It causes flowers to grow in the affected individual’s lungs, resulting in painful coughing, expulsion of petals and other parts of the plant, and eventually they will also begin to cough up blood. Once it reaches that point, life expectancy is usually a week or two at most. It stops if their feelings become requited, and it has to be truly requited; the magic in the disease will sense intent,” she explained, pausing to give Byleth a chance to speak. 

“But you said I have a rarer type? Because I don’t have any romantic feeling for anyone…” he said, frowning.

Manuela nodded. “That’s right. You must have Konkei Hanahaki Syndrome. It’s the only thing that makes sense. This means that you and someone else, likely someone here at the monastery, have a magical link between your spirits. Whoever that is would have had lavender start growing in their lungs at the same time. Links like this are extremely rare and this version of Hanahaki is much stronger than the other type. It… tends to kill much faster. On the other hand, it’s also much easier to cure. You have to find who you are spirit bonded to, and if you share some sort of romantic moment with each other, the magic that causes the illness will break,” she explained gently.

Byleth’s heart sank upon hearing all of this. He shook his head and was about to respond when another fit of coughing overwhelmed him. Alarmed, Manuela rushed over to him, handing him another handkerchief to cough into and rubbing his back while channeling a bit of healing magic to try to soothe him. He managed stop after a couple of minutes, wheezing as he looked at all the lavender in the handkerchief. “A magical link? Spirit bonding? I- I don’t understand,” Byleth choked out, looking up at Manuela in confusion.

Pursing her lips, Manuela raised her hand to her chin, seeming to be mulling over something in her head. “Have you ever heard of the concept of soulmate?” she said after a moment of consideration.

“No,” Byleth replied, shaking his head.

Manuela sighed. “A soulmate is supposed to be the person someone is destined to be with. It’s a flawed concept because it has far too many people clinging to the idea that there’s someone out there that they’re meant to love, who will love them for their entire lives. In reality it’s extremely rare that two people have such a connection… but you seem to keep making the unexpected happen, Professor,” she explained. 

“So… I have a soulmate? There is a person somewhere out there that also has… lavender growing in their lungs… and we’re linked… spiritually?” Byleth asked, feeling completely out of his depth. This was so bizarre. Just a few short weeks ago he had become one with the goddess herself, and now he was finding out that he has a magical connection to someone. “It could be anyone, couldn’t it? How will I find them?” he asked, looking up at Manuela with worry in his eyes. He was beginning to feel agitated, and he coughed a few more times, his breathing tense.

Continuing to rub his back to help him breath a bit easier and relax, Manuela shook her head. “No, it won’t be just anyone. It has to be someone you’ve interacted with a significant amount. It’s a magical illness, so it’s thought that over time it corrupts the magic between the spirits of the individuals who are linked, and then eventually causes the flowers to grow. So that narrows it down to staff and students, essentially. It’s certainly not me, and it can’t be the Archbishop because Seteth would have been banging on my door the minute it started. Whoever it is will likely come here at some point though. Once that happens, all I have to do is verify their symptoms, and then I’ll immediately let you know,” she explained confidently. Her surety made Byleth feel less anxious about the whole situation, and he nodded. 

“Thank you, Manuela. I appreciate your help. A lot,” he said with a small smile.

She patted him on the back and said, “Of course, it’s what I’m here for,” as she moved over to her cabinet of supplies. “Let me give you some medicinal teas to use to try to sooth your throat and help with the cough.” She pulled out a few small sachets of loose-leaf teas, one of which smelled strongly of peppermint, and offered them to him, explaining what each one was as she handed them over.

Byleth nodded in appreciation and stowed the teas in his pocket. Just as he was turning to leave, however, Seteth walked by, and upon seeing him, raised an eyebrow. “I hope you’re not sick, Professor. It would be very unfortunate to have you out of commission,” he said, standing curiously in the doorway.

Manuela and Byleth looked alternately between each other and Seteth, and then Byleth shrugged, stepping back towards Manuela’s desk. “Can you close that door please, Seteth?” Manuela asked pleasantly, and Seteth did as asked, moving into the room and giving them both a worried look.

“What is this about?” he asked, sounding perturbed. His face was tense as he regarded the two of them.

Upon a look from Manuela, Byleth decided that maybe he should start by explaining what happened earlier. “When I was teaching the class this morning, I had a bad coughing fit and had to leave the room. In retrospect, I’m glad I did because I coughed that up,” Byleth explained, pointing to the first handkerchief with the lavender from the morning.

Seteth immediately looked alarmed. “Hanahaki…?” he asked, gaze on Manuela.

Manuela nodded. “Not the regular kind though. It’s Konkei Hanahaki. Are you familiar with it?”

“Yes…” Seteth answered, looking disturbed. “Do you know who the other person is yet?”

Byleth shook his head. “No,” he answered with a sigh.

Manuela looked over at Seteth as she unfolded the second handkerchief, revealing a sizeable pile of freshly coughed up, mucus-laden lavender. “He coughed this up while he was sitting here a few minutes ago, so it seems to have already progressed quite a bit just in a day,” she explained, and Byleth frowned, sighing again. He wished Sothis was still here so she could guide him. She would know what to do. 

Seteth was clearly alarmed, and for a moment he did nothing but glance between Byleth, Manuela, and the lavender on the desk. “Does anyone else know about this?” he asked. When Manuela and Byleth both shook their heads, he added, “Let’s keep it that way. We can’t afford to have our enemies find out about this. I fear the Professor might be attacked if word got out,” Seteth said with a frown.

Sighing, Byleth nodded. “That’s true. Thank you for pointing that out, Seteth,” he said, trying to put on a smile. He could tell he failed when Seteth put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it.

“You will be fine. It is just better to be cautious. We will have to wait for someone to come forward presenting with Hanahaki, verify that they also bear lavender, and then, well, the two of you can figure out how to solve it,” Seteth stated, gesturing vaguely at the last part.

After he managed to escape from Seteth, Byleth went to the dining hall to get some food. He quickly decided he would prefer to eat in his room in case he had another coughing fit. He ate slowly, not wanting to rush lest he trigger a fit of coughing, and then changed into sleep clothes to lay down and read. Even with all his caution, he still had another fit, almost ending up with lavender all over his bed. Throughout the night he was woken up multiple times with more of the tiny rolled up flowers pouring out of his mouth, and he ended up oversleeping. 

**Day 15 of the Pegasus Moon, 1180**  
_Late Evening, Abyss_

Tiny buds of lavender lay scattered across Yuri’s pillow. His chest heaving, he stared at them in shock, his mind simultaneously attempting to figure out and hide from the reason why he was coughing up flowers. 

It couldn’t be… could it?

**Day 17 of the Pegasus Moon, 1180**  
_Evening, Byleth’s Room_

He heard nothing from Manuela that day, but remembered about the tea she gave him, and decided to drink some after class. He didn’t particularly feel like eating and decided that he would go late to the dining hall and grab whatever was leftover, something small. He had almost been found out during class that day; Claude was far too perceptive and definitely thought there was something more going on with him than a sore throat. 

_Evening, Abyss_

Yuri had ended up spending most of the day in his room, aside from classes, trying to come to terms with the fact that… with several facts, actually. 

One: Byleth, the Professor, made him feel things he didn’t want to feel. Didn’t think he had any right to feel. He’d ignored the feelings building up in him for months after Byleth had helped him recover his possessions from the Scorpion gang, and then showed an interest in his past. A sincere interest. Byleth had almost no ability to lie, manipulate, cheat… it wasn’t in his character. And Yuri knew it would take someone like that for him to trust anyone ever again, but he also knew that he didn’t deserve a someone like that in his life.

Two: He had suddenly developed Hanahaki syndrome. A magical disease that only had one cure, and it was causing lavender to grow in his lungs. It was making it harder for him to breath every minute, and he had coughing fits that expelled tiny buds of lavender. The amount was increasing at an alarming rate; it had barely been 48 hours since the first time, and already it was producing three or four times the amount of lavender that it had that night. This led to fact three.

Three: He was going to die. There was no getting around it. Byleth would have to return his feelings; if he did, the Hanahaki would go away. Byleth might not even be aware of Yuri’s feelings, but it didn’t matter. There was simply no way-

Plus… hadn’t Byleth had similar coughing fits yesterday and today? He seemed to be having trouble breathing sometimes too, as if he, by some cruel irony, also had Hanahaki right now, and was also suffering from an unrequited love. Yuri hoped that whoever it was, they saw their mistake quickly. 

**Day 18 of the Pegasus Moon, 1180**  
_Morning, Golden Deer Classroom_

When he started class for the day, Byleth was surprised to find that Yuri wasn’t there. Balthus and Hapi said he wasn’t feeling well, but he might come to class later, after lunch. 

“Did he see Manuela?” Byleth asked. Was it possible…?

Balthus and Hapi looked at each and then both shrugged. “Probably not, honestly,” Hapi replied with another shrug.

Byleth gave them both nods and asked them to sit down. Yuri probably just had a cold or something, right? Besides, the timeline didn’t add up; Byleth had started coughing up the lavender over two days ago. Manuela said that whoever his spirit link was with would have had the flowers start growing at the same time he did. If Yuri was only feeling sick today, then he probably wasn’t experiencing Hanahaki.

By the end of the day Byleth was exhausted from the disconcerting combination of his coughing fits and trying to keep his illness a secret. Yuri hadn’t actually shown up to class, and Byleth decided that there was no point in going to check in on him. He would probably be upset, and besides, he had Balthus, Hapi, and Constance down in Abyss with him.

After he had some of the medicinal tea and a small meal, Byleth ended up going to sleep. It ended up being a very good thing that he had decided to turn in so early; he was up a good amount of the night coughing up more lavender.

**Day 19 of the Pegasus Moon, 1180**  
_Morning, Abyss_

“You coming to class today?”

Yuri grimaced at Balthus when he opened the door. “I… I guess I can try. There’s no sense in worrying the Professor,” he said, trying desperately to cover up how tired he was.

“You really don’t look good, Boss. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to see Professor Manuela?” Balthus suggested, sounding concerned. Good old reliable Balthus, always guaranteed to try to be helpful. It was too bad there was no chance he _could_ help Yuri. Not even Manuela could.

“Maybe I’ll go see her later, after class,” Yuri answered, knowing full well that he wouldn’t. He felt that telltale tickle in the back of his throat, and quickly told Balthus that he would be in class shortly, and then closed the door in his face just in time to start a fresh fit of coughing.

By the time he had managed to get his breathing back under control, Yuri could hardly fathom getting ready for class. His chest ached so badly. He hadn’t been eating much because he didn’t really have an appetite and he also didn’t want to end up throwing up food while he coughed up the little purple flowers.

Yuri got himself up, and got ready anyway, because that was the only thing he could do, wasn’t it? He had to go on like there was nothing wrong, or the people around him would notice there _was_ something wrong, and he couldn’t have that. 

_Morning, Golden Deer Classroom_

Byleth was happy to see Yuri back in class, though he noticed something seemed off about him. He seemed to completely lack any energy or focus, and as soon as class ended, he got up very promptly and left. He was much the same the next day, and the day after, though on that last day of classes that week he skipped training and missed the first half of one class. It was very odd behaviour for him; normally he was always in class and went to all the training sessions, eager to present a positive face in public to make himself seem less suspect of frequent, shady underworld dealings.

**Day 22 of the Pegasus Moon, 1180**  
_Morning_

On Sunday, Byleth decided it was time to go see Manuela again. 

“Ah, Byleth… yes, I suspected I’d see you soon. Sit,” she said, gesturing to one of the beds. “Take that jacket off.”

He did as asked, placing his jacket on the chair nearby, though he took a bundled up handkerchief out of his pocket first. He sat on the end of the bed as she signaled, by the window, looking up at her. “How has no one come to you yet? I don’t understand. You said they would start having symptoms around the same time as I did,” Byleth asked, letting his worry seep into his voice.

Manuela looked down at him as she used some sort of magic to listen to his lungs, waving her hand over his back. “Deep breath, please,” she started. “I don’t know. I wish I did… and out.” After a few more deep inhales and exhales, Manuela moved to stand in front of him, and he looked up at her. “It’s possible that, whoever they are, they think it’s the regular type of Hanahaki, and they’re trying to keep it quiet. But that would mean that they already have feelings for you… or, it’s unlikely, but possibly someone else.” She looked away, sighing. “How have the coughing fits been? Are they getting more frequent?” Byleth nodded. “Any blood yet?”

_\- Abyss, earlier that morning_

_Blood. Why. Why was there blood on the flowers? It was_ too _soon._

_\- Manuela’s Office_

“No, thankfully. The flowers aren’t that little bud shape anymore though… I guess they’ve bloomed?” Byleth unwrapped the handkerchief he had removed from his coat pocket, he showed her the tiny five petaled, light purple flowers.

“That… makes sense. Your lungs do sound very full,” she said, sighing. “You shouldn’t keep teaching. Hanneman and I will have to take over your classes. And don’t object. You’re far too sick now. I’m surprised you’re even on your feet at this point.” She looked away as Byleth gazed solemnly at the floor. Just as he glanced back up, he saw an expression of dawning on her face. “Was anyone sick this week?”

Byleth nodded. “Yuri missed class on Wednesday, though he came back Thursday. He… didn’t seem like himself though.”

Manuela’s eyes widened. “And he’s definitely not the type to be forthcoming about an illness, that’s for sure. Did the other Wolves tell you anything?”

_\- Abyss, earlier that morning_

_A knock on his door. His hands were covered in tiny, bloody flowers… he got up quickly, trying to find something to wipe them on. Another knock._

_“Boss?” It was Balthus. Of course._

_“Ah… Balthus… right now… isn’t a go-” Before he could even finish his sentence, he began to cough violently again._ Why? Why did this have to happen? Hadn’t he suffered enough already?

_“Boss, you okay? You really don’t sound so good…” came Balthus’ baritone through the thick wood. And then the lock clicked open. Yuri panicked, which only made his coughing worse. As Balthus entered the room, he threw himself on his bed, gasping for air. He waited anxiously for the other foot to fall, to see what Balthus’ reaction would be._

_“What the hell? Boss, what’s going on?” He looked bewildered as he watched Yuri wheezing pathetically on his bed. Yuri didn’t know how much lavender was on the floor now, but Balthus was certainly looking at something down there. He stooped for a moment, and when he stood back up he was holding a few bloody flowers. “Boss… is this your blood?” His eyes were wide with worry as he looked between the flowers and Yuri._

_Yuri looked away, wiping something off his mouth – blood. Of course._

_“Boss, you gotta go see Professor Manuela…”_

_“She can’t help me,” Yuri replied, his voice strained but resolute. Balthus knew there was no point in arguing._

_\- Manuela’s Office_

“No…” Byleth said, shaking his head. “I… honestly thought they would have told me if he was that sick.”

Manuela shook her head. “They might not even know.”

Byleth frowned. “Is there anything you can do?”

“I can try to go down into Abyss, but they don’t usually want me down there. And I would need approval from Seteth first,” she answered, looking annoyed. “Honestly, I hate the bureaucracy surrounding that place. Most people know it exists, but we’re supposed to pretend it doesn’t? And if I know someone down there is sick, I can’t help them?” She sighed, sounded thoroughly frustrated. “I wish there was an easier way…”

Byleth nodded. “You’re right. I don’t like it either. It’s-” He was cut off abruptly by another coughing fit, and he used the handkerchief he was already holding, letting the new flowers join the older ones. Manuela rubbed his back just like she did before, adding in a touch of healing magic to try to help his lungs. It took a few moments, but finally it seemed like he was done coughing, and he pulled away the handkerchief only to see that some of the flowers were stained with red. His breath caught in his throat for a moment, and then he looked up. “I… no…”

Manuela looked at the handkerchief for a few seconds before she took it from him, wrapping it back up and leaving it on her desk. “I’ll take a look at those, I might be able to get a bit more information,” she explained, leaning heavily against the chair at her desk. “You need to rest, but if you can go down to Abyss and try to find out specifics about what’s wrong with Yuri, I think you should. They’ll let you in, and he might be more willing to talk to you… though it’s entirely possible he won’t. If he thinks he has the typical variant of Hanahaki…” she said, trailing off. Byleth stood with a nod of understanding and put his jacket back on, coughing a little bit more. 

“I’ll see if I can find anything out. Thank you, Manuela…” he said, giving her a smile that he hoped showed his gratitude.

Upon stepping back outside, Byleth decided if he was going to go to Abyss, sooner was probably better than later. He didn’t get a chance though, because as he was passing by the training hall, the doors burst open and Felix and Caspar came running out. They stopped when they saw him, and both called out to him in surprise. 

“Is something wrong?” Byleth asked once he got closer.

Caspar nodded, though he gave Felix a worried look. Felix sighed, and then looked right at Byleth, hesitation on his face. “I was sparring with Yuri, and I don’t understand why, but that fool didn’t dodge one of my swings. It should have been no issue for-”

Byleth’s eyes widened as he realized what Felix was saying. “Is he still in there?” he interrupted. Felix nodded, and Byleth didn’t even wait for the boys to turn back around; he sprinted around them with more energy than he thought he could really summon the last few days, and threw open the doors to the training grounds, Felix and Caspar close behind him. 

Ashe and Ignatz were crouched on the ground by a figure sprawled out in front of them, who, Byleth determined as he got closer, was unmistakably Yuri. He was laying sort of on his side, his hair and capelet splayed out behind him. Two training swords lay on the ground nearby. “He’s out cold, Professor,” Ashe said when he saw Byleth.

“How long has he been like this?” Byleth asked, looking over to Felix and Caspar.

“Not long. As soon as he fell, I dropped my sword and grabbed Caspar and asked Ignatz and Ashe to watch him. I don’t understand though… it wasn’t even a heavy blow,” Felix answered, looking bewildered. “He seemed off, so I went a little easier, even though I wasn’t sure if he was pretending or not. Doesn’t seem like he was.”

Byleth nodded. “Where did your sword hit?” he asked, looking Yuri over for any obvious marks. 

“His side,” Felix supplied, gesturing on his own torso to a spot about halfway up his side. Byleth nodded again, and then moved to the other side of Yuri, opposite Ashe and Ignatz, sliding his arms under him and easily lifting him up. The four boys seemed alarmed, but none of them commented.

“And you said he seemed off, Felix?” Byleth asked. 

Felix nodded. “He wasn’t moving as fast as usual and the few hits he got in barely hurt. He’s normally almost impossible to hit and when he hits it’s… well, I’ve had a lot more bruises than usual since I started training with him. And he was agitated when he showed up for some reason.”

“Okay… thank you boys, I’m taking him to Manuela,” he said. All four of them seemed perturbed by this, and Byleth almost left before one of them finally spoke up.

“But… couldn’t you just heal him, Professor?” Caspar asked.

Byleth turned his head long enough to answer. “I’m certain he has more issues than a bruised side right now.”

Indeed, when Byleth was away from them and headed back towards Manuela’s office, he leaned his ear down toward Yuri’s mouth, and he could faintly hear wheezing. Was it really possible that Yuri and he had… some sort of spirit link? Like… soulmates? Byleth had hardly ever considered relationships up until the ball happened, and even since then, so much had happened that he hadn’t really had the chance to think much about it. And now… suddenly in the last week he found out he had some sort of odd spiritual link to someone else. It was so unexpected, but then a lot of unexpected things had happened in the last ten months, so he supposed this was just another in a long line of strange occurrences. 

And now… thinking that it might be Yuri? He certainly possessed plenty of admirable qualities. He cared about people, he was mature, he was smart and strong… Byleth realized he could list a whole bunch of things that he admired about Yuri. And any negative trait he could also name was generally understandable, considering his past.

Suddenly he was outside the infirmary, and he realized he’d really just lost track of where he was as he thought about Yuri. Well… that might be more telling than he was comfortable with.

As he entered the room, Manuela stood, wide-eyed. “Well, isn’t that interesting…” she said, gesturing for Byleth to place Yuri on the other bed, the one farther from the window. Byleth supposed that was probably something Yuri would appreciate. He much preferred to be in shadows, or inside in general, away from the brightness of the sun.

“He was in the training grounds with Felix, and according to him wasn’t performing as usual. Felix swung in a way he was sure Yuri would dodge, but he didn’t. It was a blunt training sword, but Felix also said it was a light swing, so I don’t think it would have done much worse than bruise,” Byleth explained, feeling a bit overwhelmed. “That doesn’t seem like something that would normally have him out cold like this.”

Manuela nodded, and then cast some sort of healing spell. “Could you close the door, dear?” Byleth nodded, but just before he stood he saw Yuri’s eyes flutter open. He realized Manuela probably both wanted Yuri to have some privacy and wanted him to not be there when Yuri awoke, so he stayed back, listening to the conversation from afar.

“Well hello Yuri… you know, you are welcome to come see me when you’re not feeling well,” Manuela said in her usual pleasant tone, and Byleth heard a groan in response. “Yes, I know, going to see the doctor isn’t the most desirable thing to do. But if you had come here on Monday or Tuesday when I suspect this all started, it could have easily been resolved then.”

“What… are you talking about?” came Yuri’s response. His voice sounded strained, not at all it’s usual melodic timbre. 

“Well, based on how much you’re shaking, I would say you probably haven’t eaten much in a few days… is that correct?” There was a pause, and then Manuela continued, so Byleth guessed Yuri must have answered with a nod or a shake of his head… or maybe just not at all. “And I would guess that you haven’t been eating because it’s probably not easy to keep anything down, or possibly because you’re finding eating irritates the _illness_ that you’re experiencing.” Again, there was a pause, so Byleth didn’t know what Yuri’s answer was. “What flower is it, hm?” 

There was another pause, and then it sounded a bit like Yuri said he didn’t know what she was talking about. “Well, let’s see if we can jog your memory then,” Manuela said, turning to look at Byleth. “Would you be a dear and come over here? Bring your handkerchiefs.” Byleth did as asked, and when he got into Yuri’s line of sight, his eyes widened briefly and he looked away. Manuela gestured for Byleth to sit on the other side of the bed, and then she unfolded the handkerchiefs, starting with the earliest one, and the most recent last. “Do these look familiar?” Manuela asked, and Yuri’s face looked strained for a moment as he considered the small piles of lavender. 

“…Yes…” he finally answered, frowning. “But I think you already knew that. Where did you get those?”

Manuela smiled. “Oh, these? They’re Byleth’s,” she answered in a tone that clearly conveyed that she knew something he didn’t. Yuri’s eyes narrowed briefly, but then he looked over at Byleth, something undecipherable on his face. 

“Then… all those coughing fits you were having this week…” Yuri asked, and Byleth just nodded in response. 

“Would it be fair to assume you know what Hanahaki Syndrome is then, Yuri?” Manuela asked, wrapping the handkerchiefs back up. Yuri nodded in response, and then looked at Byleth uncomfortably. “Is it also fair to assume you don’t know about Konkei Hanahaki Syndrome?” For a moment, Yuri just looked confused, but then he nodded slowly. “Well… Konkei Hanahaki Syndrome is a very rare form of Hanahaki that occurs in people who have a magical spirit bond. The magic of the illness perverts the magic in the bond and causes both individuals to start growing flowers at the same time. It’s an extremely rare occurrence,” she explained, getting up from her seat and winking at Byleth. “I’ll pull the curtain so you two can have some privacy. But please, figure it out quickly. Neither of you can afford to let those flowers keep growing.”

When Manuela was gone, Yuri looked at Byleth in shock. “What… what is Professor Manuela talking about?” he asked, looking hesitant.

Byleth sighed. “I thought it sounded crazy on Monday myself… but-” he started, cutting himself off with a cough. He groaned, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket just in time to catch a stream of bloody flowers pouring from his mouth as he coughed violently. Yuri was visibly alarmed. He shuffled closer to Byleth, bringing his legs down over the side of the bed so he could sit close. He reached out towards Byleth’s chest, but he paused as he got closer and looked Byleth in the eyes, as if waiting for some sort of signal. Byleth barely managed a weak nod in between coughs, and Yuri closed the space between his hand and Byleth’s chest. Hunched over as he was, Byleth couldn’t actually see what he was doing, but he figured it out quickly enough when he started to feel a bit warm and fuzzy and saw the faint glow of healing magic.

A strange feeling came over Byleth; his coughing slowly ceased, and his lungs began to feel clearer. He looked up at Yuri in surprise, and then experimentally reached out. Yuri nodded as his hand got close to him and he searched his eyes for permission.

“I can… feel…” Yuri stuttered out, his face strained. Byleth began channeling his healing magic before his hand was even on Yuri, and he watched Yuri’s eyes widen. When he inevitably opened his mouth to try to take in a large breath as his lungs cleared somewhat, he still ended up coughing, bloody lavender falling from his mouth. He caught his breath quickly though after only a bit of coughing, so it was certainly an improvement.

Yuri ended up weakly leaning against Byleth, breathing heavily into his shoulder. Byleth wasn’t faring much better himself as he dragged in as much air as he possibly could. “It’s… so nice… to be able to breath…” Byleth said in between breaths. Yuri made a weak noise of acknowledgement. A bit more worried now, Byleth propped Yuri up, and could see a little better now just how pale he was. “Have you really not been eating?”

Eyes opening slightly as he continued to draw in rattling breaths, Yuri nodded slightly. Byleth wondered if the tea Manuela had given him really helped, because Yuri seemed a lot worse off than he had been. “Manuela?” Byleth called out, hoping she was still there.

The clack of shoes on the floor was followed by Manuela drawing the curtain back to step in. “Hm? Oh,” she started, and then moved in. “He should be laying down,” she said, gesturing for Byleth to get him back onto the bed properly. “What did you do?”

“I started coughing again, and Yuri sat up and moved closer to me… and he just healed me. So I tried it on him, and it seemed to work, but…” Byleth explained, worried. He helped Yuri lay back down, and once his head was back on the pillow, he let his eyes fall shut.

Manuela nodded. “It’s probably because he healed you. The expenditure of magic took too much out of him,” she answered. Her hand glowed with some sort of faith magic as she slowly passed it above Yuri’s body, concentrating. “Yeah, the Hanahaki had mostly cleared up. Both of you will still have to cough up bits of plants for a while, but it won’t be anywhere as bad as the last few days. Let me make some of that herbal tea I gave you, it should help, and I’ll see if I can’t get Hanneman to run to the dining hall to grab you both some food,” she said with a smile. 

Byleth smiled back at her, nodding. “That sounds lovely. Thank you, Manuela.” Yuri managed a weak nod before letting his eyes fall closed again.

Manuela brought the tea over a few minutes later, moving the small table over to the bed so they could easily reach it. While they waited Byleth tried to heal Yuri a bit more, but he was getting to the point of feeling a bit weakened now too, so he stopped, giving Yuri an apologetic look. 

“Don’t… worry about it. You did your best. At least… I can talk again…” Yuri asserted, letting Byleth help him up to drink some tea. “If you’re wondering… damp air also isn’t great for… a person’s lungs. Just being in Abyss… made it worse…”

“Oh. I didn’t realize…” Byleth replied, frowning. They sat in silence for a few moments, sipping tea, the warmth making Byleth a bit drowsy. 

Yuri was the one who broke the silence. “No… of course you didn’t,” he started, his voice a little less strained now. “I… I shouldn’t have kept it to myself. But…” He shrugged as he trailed off, not seeming intent on finishing his thought. 

Byleth nodded. “It’s alright. You don’t need to explain.”

For a moment Yuri looked surprised, but then he gave Byleth a small smile. “Sorry, I’m… still not used to you. It’s rare to find someone so non-judgemental,” he explained, looking a bit uncomfortable. 

Manuela brought them a plate of sweet buns just then, and Yuri couldn’t hide the ravenous look of delight on his face upon seeing them. Byleth chuckled, and Yuri gave him a questioning look, blushing a bit. Byleth found himself caught off guard by that; he’d never seen Yuri blush before, and he… enjoyed it, in some odd way. Yuri watched him carefully as he ate a sweet bun, passing the plate over to Byleth, some strange mixture of surprise and embarrassment… and something else? on his face. 

Byleth realized that the strange rising heat in his face meant that he was also blushing. He looked away briefly as he ate and sipped his tea, nerves rising up in him. Now that the crisis was over with… what were they supposed to do about this… magical bond they apparently had?

“Penny for your thoughts?” Yuri remarked, and when Byleth glanced back he saw a look of curiosity on his face. It was somewhat hidden, but it was still there enough that Byleth noticed it. 

“Um… well… I was just thinking about…” he started, making a vague gesture between them. “What are we supposed to do now?” He spoke slowly, unsure if the question would even be welcome.

Yuri’s expression changed slowly to something more passive, and Byleth thought that maybe he was hiding something behind that aloofness. “I don’t know. I guess just go on with our lives as we have been? Does it really make a difference?”

Something about that sounded… disappointing, to Byleth. “Oh. I guess…” he replied, shrugging. He couldn’t keep the frown off his face or out of his voice.

Apparently a bit taken aback by Byleth’s reaction, Yuri raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You don’t sound very taken with that idea.”

Byleth shook his head slowly, wondering how Yuri was interpreting his reactions.

“So… you don’t want to just go back to the way things were?” Yuri guessed.

Byleth nodded, reacting a bit more confidently this time. “That seems… this whole _soulmate_ thing sounds like a big deal. Wouldn’t it be strange to just pretend none of this happened?”

Again, Yuri raised an eyebrow. “I suppose it would. Do you have a suggestion about what we should do instead, then?” he asked, some small amount of curiosity written on his face.

For a moment Byleth had to think about that, and he did come upon an answer, but he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it, or how to bring it up. “Well… you thought you had the regular variant of Hanahaki, right?” Byleth asked, though he knew the answer; he just wanted a lead in to what he was going to propose, and that seemed the easiest way. Some part of him still didn’t believe it though – why would Yuri feel anything intense like that for him? It seemed… odd.

Yuri’s expression closed off again very quickly, and he glanced away. “…yeah,” he answered, pursing his lips. Byleth thought he seemed a bit annoyed.

“And… uh… why?” Byleth tried, faltering to find the right words. “I… I mean… that would mean…”

Yuri rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it means exactly what you think it means,” he responded, very staunchly not looking at Byleth now. Frowning, Byleth moved closer, wondering how he was even supposed to reply to that.

“You’re… uncomfortable about that,” Byleth stated simply.

Sighing, Yuri glanced back for a moment, but his eyes quickly went back to the sweet buns. “Of course I am.”

Still frowning, Byleth raised an eyebrow. “Why? I mean… if you’re saying what I think you’re saying… why?” he asked, a strange feeling in his stomach.

Now Yuri looked back at him in confusion. “What do you mean, why? You’re…” he started, and then frowned, his lips pursed together tightly.

“I’m what? Do you even know that much about me?” Byleth asked, though it came out a bit rougher than he’d meant.

Yuri looked away again. “I’m sure you know even less about me.” He reached for one of the sweet buns, and took a sip of his tea, eyes still not meeting Byleth’s.

Byleth nodded slowly. “You might be right about that,” he replied. He sipped his tea, wondering where they were supposed to go from this impasse. What would Sothis do? …she’d probably tell him that he just needed to learn more about Yuri. “So, then… why don’t we just fix that?” he finally continued after a short silence. 

“What?” Yuri exclaimed, not too loudly but certainly much more loudly than he would normally speak. He seemed completely bewildered by this suggestion. “No, Byleth, _no_. There are things that you would rather not know about me. Things that I would rather no one knew.” He seemed much more alarmed by the idea than Byleth could have imagined.

Taken aback by Yuri’s reaction, Byleth needed a moment before he could respond. “Well… don’t tell me those things then. I’m sure there’s lots of other things I don’t know about you. And… I can try to share some stuff too, stuff you don’t know.” He shrugged, feeling unsure about his suggestion.

Yuri gave him a look of suspicion and then sipped his tea, glancing away, this time at the tea pot. “…I suppose that sounds… agreeable,” he answered after a pause. “So, if you ask me something I don’t want to answer, I don’t have to, yeah?”

Byleth nodded. “Right. And the same applies for me,” he replied. “But… maybe we should go somewhere else? Somewhere more private?”

“…like where?” Yuri asked, and Byleth sensed more suspicion in those words. This was going to take some time, wasn’t it?

“My quarters? Or yours? Doesn’t matter to me,” Byleth responded, reaching for the teapot. “We can bring the food and tea with us too; these are the dining hall’s dishes.”

Yuri nodded, and after a moment of consideration, he replied with, “Your room, I guess. It’ll be a bit noisy in Abyss right now. Balthus, Hapi, and Constance know I haven’t been feeling well, so I’m sure they’ve got everything handled down there.”

Byleth nodded. “Okay then… I have more of those herbs in my quarters, so we can make more tea once these leaves are done,” he mentioned with a smile. 

Yuri got up, a bit unsteady at first, and took the plate of sweet buns, moving towards the curtain as Byleth gathered the teapot and their cups. On their way out, they thanked Manuela for her help, and then headed downstairs and towards Byleth’s quarters. 

They ended up spending much longer than either of them imagined asking each other questions, and eventually Byleth got up, telling Yuri he could stay behind, and got more food to bring back. Yuri, of course, had been shocked to learn that Byleth had no heartbeat… but he said he’d been shocked to learn the planet was round too, so it wasn’t like he was some sort of genius.

By the time they started growing weary of their back and forth it must have been around midnight, and though it wasn’t especially late, Yuri was already tired. He was going to leave, but Byleth stopped him, sensing that he was exhausted enough that it might be dangerous to try to get back down to Abyss. He offered to walk Yuri back, but Yuri declined, saying that he looked very tired too, and he would have the same problem getting back up to the surface. Embarrassed by their predicament, they decided it made more sense for Yuri to stay here, and Byleth insisted that he wasn’t sleeping on the floor, but Yuri insisted the same right back, which led to them deciding that the bed was probably big enough for two people. Barely. 

Yuri borrowed a loose sleep shirt and shorts from Byleth, and they changed, facing away from each other. Byleth was especially embarrassed by this, and he got the sense that Yuri’s hesitation stemmed from something different than his. Maybe one of those things he would rather keep secret. 

Managing the bed was somewhat difficult, but Byleth said that he was a pretty heavy sleeper and didn’t roll around, so he should sleep at the floor side, Yuri could take the wall side. They agreed, and finally went to bed. As exhausted as they both were, and desperately in need of actual quality sleep, it hardly took either of them any time at all to fall into slumber.

And if Byleth woke up in the morning, shocked to realize he had wrapped his arms around Yuri in the middle of the night… well, it wasn’t that big of a deal, right? People did that, right? As Byleth watched Yuri continue to sleep, contentment washed over him, and for some reason, he was struck by the strange feeling that everything was going to be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I will hopefully upload tomorrow a bit earlier :D


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